He shrugged aside well-wishers, he didn't stop to swap his old red ballcap for a new Super Bowl champion one and when he found Tuck, he hugged him.

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One man approached him at a gas station, tearfully said he missed him and hugged him, Finebaum said.

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He said one of the doctors hugged him.

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"I hugged him close, so he couldn't escape from the car, " she wrote.

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He just hugged me, and I took him to the ambulance.

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He says one person came up and actually hugged him for bringing free Internet access to downtown.

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When he passed the crucial two-thirds threshold, his close friend, the Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes hugged him, kissed him and entreated: "Don't forget the poor!"

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He has developed close ties with Russia and during his visit at the weekend hugged President Vladimir Putin, who described him as a friend.

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